How Not to Save the Kentucky Democratic Party, Privileged White Guy Edition.

Ugh:

When a prominent civil rights attorney can point out just how detached you are in a single tweet, well…

I can’t even.

This is like telling a black person that you know best how to relieve their suffering. It’s like telling someone of a different race or ethnicity to sit down and be quiet because they’re making you uncomfortable. It’s like telling a person of color that they sound articulate.

It’s telling someone who is in pain that they need to stop talking, that they need to shut up, that they need to be polite. Big, tough, straight, white man knows best.

This is like telling a gay person they’re out-of-line for daring suggest that heterosexual microaggressions are harmful and dangerous. It’s like telling a gay person they need to be patient in demanding equal treatment under the law.

It’s like telling a transgender individual that their plight is fair game for bigoted political fodder.

Calling a black man a “horse’s ass” because he upset your delicate feelings on racial discrimination? That’s racist as fuck. Were you drunk out of your mind??? Or were you just showing your true colors? Unbelievable.

…

Wanna rebuild the Kentucky Democratic Party? Shut the fuck up, Adam Edelen, and stop alienating the people you need to help you. Seriously. Just stop talking. Maybe start consulting people who will tell you when to keep your mouth shut. You may care about racial division in the U.S. but you just pulled a Donald Trump in putting your foot in your mouth.

…

Yes, it’s white privilege that allows me to foam at the mouth about this without being shot. But don’t you think for a second that being gay is in any way helpful in terms of safety and security in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Tim Longmeyer, a former secretary of the state Personnel Cabinet under former Gov. Steve Beshear, pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to bribery. [H-L]

If you run a business, are employed by one, care about the stability of the financial system, or would prefer that the U.S. economy not be needlessly thrown into disarray — a group that seems like a pretty broad coalition of voters — Cruz’s economic policy is not OK. [HuffPo]

The Independent Pilots Association, the collective bargaining unit for UPS pilots, is turning up the heat on the shipping giant by opening a strike operations center in Louisville. [C-J/AKN]

Pope Francis says a brief meeting with Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders just “good manners” and not political interference. [BBC]

Five hours after the Ashland Police Department posted a Facebook status about a recent spike in theft and burglary, officers were on the hunt for a robber downtown. [Ashland Independent]

Mitch McConnell is “increasingly optimistic that there actually may be a second ballot” at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer, the Senate majority leader told a Kentucky ABC affiliate over the weekend. [Politico]

People in rural areas of Appalachia are more likely to die early deaths than in other parts of the country. A big reason, researchers say, is that people in places such as Leslie County, Kentucky, or Boone County, West Virginia – both part of coalfield regions – die from drug overdoses at greater rates than the rest of the country. [Glasgow Daily Times]

If you’re a gay person surprised by the reality that most Republicans, and many Democrats, are ignoring you or politicizing you? You’re screwed up. [ThinkProgress]

Fried mushrooms, mushroom soup, mushroom hunting, and a Fungus 5K, will be just a few of the mushroom-themed items and activities sporing downtown at the City of Irvine’s 26th annual Mountain Mushroom Festival. [Richmond Register]

The Associated Press won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for reporting on abuse in the seafood industry that helped free 2,000 slave laborers, and Reuters and The New York Times shared the breaking news photography award for images of the European refugee crisis. [Reuters]

The Obama administration has made a concerted effort to improve its relationship with Mexico following Donald Trump’s call for a massive border wall and his criticism of undocumented immigrants in the United States. [The Hill]

They cover this sort of crap but ignore Montgomery County. Clark County Superintendent Paul Christy, and George Rogers Clark High School baseball coach Matt Ginter and principal David Bolen all have to take three hours of training from the Kentucky Department of Education on accounting procedures for school activity funds, according to a final report from the Kentucky Office of Education Accountability dated March 30. [H-L]

An eight-member Supreme Court appeared skeptical on Monday that President Barack Obama’s decision to defer deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants could be subject to a multi-state legal challenge in a court of law. [HuffPo]

Morehead police and the Rowan County coroner are on the hunt for a man who left another for dead.

Coroner John Northcutt said at about 5 a.m. Sunday, a black sport utility vehicle arrived at St. Claire Regional Medical Center with an unresponsive male in the back.

“Two nurses were outside the emergency department area and witnessed a gentleman exit the vehicle he was driving,” said Northcutt. “The man then made a brief statement to the nurses and left immediately, leaving the vehicle.”

Northcutt said that’s when the nurses found Jonathan Lykins, 34, of West Liberty, in the back of the SUV.

“When he was found not breathing,” Northcutt said. “Emergency personnel tried to resuscitate him, but were unsuccessful in doing so.”

-SNIP-

Lykins’ body was taken to Frankfort to be autopsied by the Kentucky Medical Examiner’s Office.

Anyone with information on the operator of the vehicle is asked to Northcutt through MPD Dispatch at 784-8824 or Salley at 784-7511.

Jon, like many back home, got caught up in the world of addiction. But that doesn’t make his life any less valuable than yours or mine.

If you know who left him, contact the police, tell someone, spill the beans.

This horrific drug nightmare in Eastern Kentucky has gotta come to an end.

Will it be over in my lifetime? Is that a silly hope?

And when will agencies in EKY start distributing Narcan? It’s already saving lives in Louisville.

HEAD-DESK.

If anyone wants to help me focus more on digging in to the mess in Eastern Kentucky, please consider throwing your support this way. The cityfolk are too busy worrying about Bernie Sanders and fair trade coffee to care about what’s going on in the foothills.

Janet Patton always brings it when it comes to reporting facts that Damon Thayer hates. The Kentucky Horse Park is “making good progress,” state Tourism, Parks and Heritage Secretary Don Parkinson said after hearing Wednesday that the park is on track to meet budget projections for the year. [H-L]

He was a vegetable farmer in Syria before the civil war forced the family of seven to flee. She is a University of Louisville professor who lives on an unused 16-acre farm. [C-J/AKN]

Every year, thousands of foreign workers come to the United States using H-2 visas, a little-known guest worker program that fills some of the nation’s most menial jobs. [ProPublica]

Caveland Environmental Authority has begun work to replace water valves in and around town as part of its effort to upgrade the water system. [Glasgow Daily Times]

Environmental policies are often vilified as economical agents of destruction. From the Clean Power Plan, to methane rules, to the Paris Agreement, every time a new environmental policy is proposed detractors argue that new rules drive costs up, kill jobs, and hamper trade. But a new study is challenging the idea that curbing pollution hurts business to the point of stifling export trade. [ThinkProgress]

CSX Corporation informed employees in Russell Tuesday that it’s reducing operations immediately. According to a CSX spokesperson, 101 union and management employees in the transportation and mechanical departments are affected by the decision. Some yard and all locomotive shop operations will continue without disruption. Engineering employees also aren’t affected by the cuts. [Ashland Independent]

Much of the US has just switched to daylight saving time, gaining an extra hour of light in the evening for the next few months. But not everyone is in favour and every year the practice triggers a national debate. [BBC]

No matter how badly people freak out at Hillary Clinton, coal is still dead. It’s time for Eastern Kentucky to come to terms with that reality. [Harlan Daily Enterprise]

At Southwest Baltimore Charter School, preparing lunch takes a few extra steps. “We don’t use the water from the building for cooking, not at all,” say cafeteria worker LaShawn Thompson, shaking her head. [NPR]

The Kentucky Community and Technical College (KCTCS) Board of Regents approved a new associate degree program in broadband technology – the first in Kentucky and just the third in the United States – for Big Sandy Community and Technical College (BSCTC) at its meeting on Friday. [Hazard Herald]

Meanwhile, in Colorado… The Colorado Department of Agriculture is introducing a new program aimed at bringing industrial hemp into mainstream agriculture. Seed produced and conditioned under this program will be issued “CDA Approved Certified Seed” tags through the Colorado Seed Growers Association if the production standards are met and then will be available for purchase through the developer. [Click the Clicky]

Republican state Sen. Ralph Alvarado of Winchester has reached a settlement in his defamation lawsuit against Democratic political consultant Dale Emmons, though Alvarado’s legal battle against former state Sen. R.J. Palmer continues. [H-L]

Donald Trump received nearly $2 billion in free media exposure this past year, dwarfing his Republican rivals and more than doubling the attention paid to Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, according to tracking firm mediaQuant. [HuffPo]

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